1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to articles for pet sanitation and specifically to a concealed pet waste disposal bag carrier affixed to a pet collar.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It has been said that the American population is outnumbered by their pets. We are arguably outnumbered by our pet dogs alone, which number more than 250,000,000 by some estimates. As these numbers increase, the public demand for animal regulation increases correspondingly, responsive to the public health and safety concerns related to the high population of pet animals.
Generally, pet owners residing in a municipal region are subject to ordinances requiring that their animals be leashed at all times in public and otherwise restrained in private to prevent uncontrolled wandering. More recently, some municipalities have promulgated so-called "pooper-scooper" ordinances, which require pet owners to accept personal responsibility for collection and disposition of the waste material produced by their pet animals. These ordinances generally regulate the ownership of dogs but are sometimes explicitly applied to other common pets. Present trends suggest that the owners of pet cats, which are even more numerous than dogs, may someday be subject to "leash-law" and "pooper-scooper" regulations, although progress of such regulations is slowed by the general recognition that pet cats are less subject to owner control and may present less of a public-health hazard and nuisance than do pet dogs.
When pet owners are subject to both leash-law and pooper-scooper ordinances, the owner is obliged to (a) "walk" his pet on a leash and (b) retrieve and dispose of pet wastes when and where the animal decides to relieve itself. This distasteful but mandatory routine is familiar to all responsible dog owners and to many bystanders. Because of the distastefulness of this routine, some practitioners in the art have offered proposals designed to minimize such unpleasantness.
For instance, the term "pooper-scooper" denominates a mechanical apparatus well-known in the art for retrieving solid dog wastes without soiling the owner's hands. Unfortunately, the pooper-scooper is a large and awkwardly-configured device that is used only for its single purpose. Thus, unless the pet-owner plans to use the pooper-scooper, he is unlikely to have it available for use when needed. Because the device is unlikely to be casually carried about by the pedestrian as a normal complement of a pleasure walk.
Accordingly, pet-owners (and others) are often confronted with unplanned pet waste, having available only their hands and whatever devices may be afforded by their immediate environment. Human nature being what it is, such unplanned pet waste is commonly left where it lies, creating social, public-health and legal problems for the pet owner and others.
Other practitioners and pet owners have employed either plastic bags, disposable surgical gloves, sandwich bags, paper tissues, paper bags or the like to handle this unpleasant pet sanitation task. None of these alternatives solve the problem of unplanned pet waste because none of these items is included in the normal pedestrian accoutrement. The typical pedestrian embarking on a walk for pleasure does not normally carry along assorted bags, disposable surgical gloves and the like unless planning to clean up after his pet.
Even with foresight, the thoughtful pet owner often finds it inconvenient to bring along a plastic bag or other similar article when walking a pet. Moreover, a pet walker with a bag in hand, provides a mildly embarrassing spectacle to other pedestrians, whether the bag is empty or not. Although a public display of the actual cleanup of pet waste may elicit public approval, the mere act of awkwardly holding a plastic bag while walking one's dog is less rewarding.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a pet sanitation article that solves these problems of (a) unavailability, (b) awkwardness and inconvenience, and (c) the distastefulness associated with retrieving and disposing of pet waste. These unresolved problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by my invention in the manner described below.